Construction has started on a sustainable pay-and-play golf course in Leigh, north of Manchester, UK. Golf architect David Hemstock designed the 18-hole, 6,300-yard course, complete with a driving range and pitch-and-putt course, for Wigan Council under project managers Scott Wilson.

The course is part of a 200ha ex-mining site that will feature extensive outdoor activities, park and wildlife areas. The project emphasis is on ecology and sustainability with project leaders aiming for at least 20 per cent of the materials used to be recycled, as well as attempting to keep the carbon footprint to zero.

"We are employing the philosophy that green proposals must not cost more than the standard and must have been tried and tested previously," said Hemstock. "We are providing the basis for sustainable construction and maintenance, but ultimately the greenness of our new course will be entirely dependent on the management by the greenkeeper – not on recycled materials, ecological reserves or biofuels." Hemstock's company has also started work in southern India on the Dragon's Eye Golf Complex, Coimbatore. The 18-hole championship-length course is being formed on suburban scrubland and includes an extensive academy area.